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February 11, 2009
Smith: Ratner’s Atlantic Yards Stimulus Shakedown
NYMag.com, "Daily Intel"
NY Magazine political reporter Chris Smith is getting wind that Bruce Ratner is going all out to "elbow in front of the line" to get federal stimulus money for his ailing Atlantic Yards arena and high-rise megaproject.
Here's how:
Preparatory construction work on the 22-acre site was halted in December. Meanwhile, Ratner’s team has returned repeatedly to the city and state asking for subsidies beyond the possible $1.5 billion in direct and indirect taxpayer money that went into the original deal. That effort seemed to be making little headway, however, with the recession forcing the mayor and governor to slash spending on everything from teachers to hospitals to cops.
But Ratner is nothing if not persistent, and he’s lined up a powerful group of political supporters for Atlantic Yards, including Mayor Bloomberg, Senator Chuck Schumer, and the project’s first elected cheerleader, Markowitz (new senator Kirsten Gillibrand hasn’t taken a position on Atlantic Yards yet). Other than Markowitz, they haven’t said whether they like the idea of using stimulus money to revive the project. And there is a long list of more worthy state projects — from the Second Avenue subway to the Cross-Harbor Freight Tunnel to high-speed upstate rail links — that would produce bigger public benefit from the stimulus bucks without bailing out a private real-estate developer.
The key player, however, may be a guy who is out of office but certainly not out of the game: Alfonse D’Amato. Over the years, Ratner has spent millions on a wide range of Albany and Washington lobbyists, none of whom are better connected than the former senator — especially now that D’Amato has recently emerged as one of Paterson’s biggest fund-raisers. If Atlantic Yards rises from its shallow grave, don’t be surprised to see D’Amato wielding one of the shovels.
Posted by lumi at February 11, 2009 5:27 AM